The Venturing Silver Award is the pinnacle of the Venturing program, developing from the precepts of the Gold Award. The Silver Award focuses on the three principles of leadership, ethics, and emergency preparedness. Its purpose is to provide a pathway for personal development; encourage Venturers to learn, grow, and serve; and recognize the high level of achievement of Venturers who acquire Venturing skills.

After completion of the Venturing Silver Award, a medal and a knot is awarded that is worn above the left pocket of the uniform for daily wear. This award may be awarded at a crew recognition ceremony (similar to a Boy Scout Court of Honor), organized by the youth Vice President - Administration. This award may be presented more than once; it may be awarded again at a school or other venues to promote awareness within the community.

The photo to the right shows the:

Venturing Silver Award medal.

The Venturing Silver Award knot worn above the left pocket of the uniform for daily wear.

History

When the Boy Scouts of America introduced the Explorer program (predecessor to Venturing) in 1950, the Silver Award program was the advancement program for older Boy Scouts. The award was restyled in 1954 and awarded through 1958 when the Explorer Program was renamed the Exploring program and advancement was dropped. Air Explorers continued to be able to earn this award through 1964.

The award was re-introduced in 1998 as part of Venturing and its current design is similar to its historic counterpart.

Venturing Silver Award requirements

Be proficient in emergency preparedness, including earning Standard First Aid and CPR certification, and knowing and using BSA Safe Swim Defense.

a. Become certified in Standard First Aid or equivalent course. If you choose the American Red Cross Standard First Aid version of the course, the curriculum includes how to recognize an emergency and overcome the reluctance to act; how to recognize and care for breathing and cardiac emergencies in adults (training to care for infants and children is optional); and how to identify and care for life-threatening bleeding, sudden illness, and injury. The course is approximately 6-1/2 hours. Your Standard First Aid certification will expire three years from the date of issue. Your CPR certification will expire one year from the date of issue. [Also, check out the American Red Cross sports safety training. It is the same hours as the standard first aid.]1

If you hold an unexpired certification in this or a higher course, you can receive credit for this requirement. However, you must be currently certified at the time of your Silver Award crew review. You are encouraged to get certified as soon as possible and stay certified. For this requirement you are not required to seek a higher certification, but you are encouraged to get certifications in higher-level courses such as First Aid--Responding to Emergencies or Emergency Response. You will be even more prepared.

NOTE: If you need help finding an American Red Cross instructor in your area, call your local Red Cross chapter. For literature, call toll free 800-667-2968.

b. Become certified in CPR. You can take a stand-alone CPR course or take it as part of another course such as Standard First Aid. Please remember that CPR certification lasts for only one year, at which time you will need a refresher course. Like Standard First Aid, it is good to always be current in your CPR certification. You most likely will get an opportunity to use your skill in saving a life.

c. Complete the BSA Safe Swim Defense training course. In this course, you will learn how each of the eight points of the Safe Swim program affects safe crew swimming activities. You will learn that qualified supervision and discipline are the two most important points, upon which the other points rely. You will also learn how to set up a safe swim area. Any BSA aquatics resource person, your crew Advisors, or other council-authorized individual can provide the training course for you. Use Safe Swim Defense, No. 34370A, and Safe Swim Defense Training Outline, No. 19-417.

d. Either lead or participate in a group swim using BSA Safe Swim Defense. Swimming can be a great way for you and your crew members to stay fit and to just have fun. To ensure that you and your friends will continue to do just that, always insist you use Safe Swim Defense.

b. Successfully serve for at least six months in an elected or appointed crew, district, or council leadership position. Since leadership is a form of service to others, don't be afraid to ask your followers, those you serve, how you are doing. If you don't have an occasional assessment of your progress, you might not improve. Learn to value the opinion of others. This must be in addition to the leadership requirement in the Venturing Gold Award.

Participate in the Ethics in Action program, including Ethical Controversies activities and an Ethics Forum.

a. Participate in at least two ethical controversies activities from chapter 9 of the Venturing Leader Manual. These activities are scenarios that will put you and those who do the activities with you into challenging, problem-solving situations. In a constructive way, these activities will help you develop the following personal skills:

Promoting productive conflict resolution

Polite disagreement

Listening to new ideas

Understanding other people's perspectives

Working toward a solution that the group involved will support and implement

b. Either organize and lead, or help organize and lead, an ethics forum for your crew, another crew, school class, or other youth group. An ethics forum is simply another, more formal, way of gathering information about ethics. You will invite two or more adults to form a panel for your crew or group to ask questions about ethics in their personal or professional lives. You can even invite adults related to your crew's specialty; if you are in a sports crew, you could invite a sports doctor, a coach, and a professional athlete. You can even invite guests such as family members and friends to join you. You can even use the information gathered from the ethics forum to develop your own ethical controversies activities.

Show a crew review committee you have met the requirements for the Venturing Silver Award.

The official source for the information shown in this article or section is:Venturer Handbook, 2016 Edition (BSA Supply SKU #621535)

After completing all requirements, the candidate should prepare evidence of completion of work. It should be submitted to the crew Advisor along with the completed and personally signed Sliver Award Progress Record and Application. The crew president, in conjunction with the crew Advisor, should then appoint a review committee of four to six people including Venturers and adults. The review committee should review the candidate's written documentation and interview the candidate to determine whether the candidate completed all work and grew as a result of the pursuit of the Silver Award. The application is then approve by the crew Advisor and crew committee chairman and submitted to your council service center. No district or council review board is required.

Source: 1998 (2006 printing) Venturer Leader Manual (34655E)

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